Do Individual Investors Affect Share Price Accuracy? Some Preliminary Evidence

A common belief is that individual investors are noise traders that distort stock prices. Because accurate share prices are important for economic functioning, the market effect of retail investors has significant regulatory implications. This paper, employing a new NYSE retail trading data set and the R2 metric of share price informedness, contributes to the debate by demonstrating that as the proportion of trading by individual investors increases, the R2 of firms decreases. Adherents of the R2 methodology hold that lower R2\u27s imply more accurate stock prices. The results of an instrumental variable estimation suggest that this relationship is a causal one (that is, retail trading causes changes in R2). Thus, if a low R2 indeed signifies share price accuracy, the findings of this study provide evidence that, contrary to the received wisdom, retail trading increases share price accuracy

The Investor Compensation Fund

The prevailing view among securities regulation scholars is that compensating victims of secondary market securities fraud is inefficient. As the theory goes, diversified investors are as likely to be on the gaining side of a transaction tainted by fraud as the losing side. Therefore, such investors should have no expected net losses from fraud because their expected losses will be matched by expected gains. This Article argues that this view is flawed; even diversified investors can suffer substantial losses from fraud, presenting a compelling case for compensation. The interest in compensation, however, should be advanced by better means than are currently in place. The present system relies on securities class action lawsuits to compensate victims, but these suits not only undercompensate victims, but also underdeter fraud. To improve compensation and better deter fraud, this Article explores the creation of an investor compensation fund. Under this proposal, when a share of stock is sold in the secondary market, a fee, payable by the selling shareholder, will be placed into a fund for fraud victim restitution. The size of the fee will vary by the fraud risk rating assigned to the firm whose stock is sold and, naturally, will affect that stock’s trading price. Therefore, firms will have incentives to institute corporate governance practices that minimize the likelihood of fraud

The Investor Compensation Fund

The prevailing view among securities regulation scholars is that compensating victims of secondary market securities fraud is inefficient. As the theory goes, diversified investors are as likely to be on the gaining side of a transaction tainted by fraud as the losing side. Therefore, such investors should have no expected net losses from fraud because their expected losses will be matched by expected gains. This Article argues that this view is flawed; even diversified investors can suffer substantial losses from fraud, presenting a compelling case for compensation. The interest in compensation, however, should be advanced by better means than are currently in place. The present system relies on securities class action lawsuits to compensate victims, but these suits not only undercompensate victims, but also underdeter fraud. To improve compensation and better deter fraud, this Article explores the creation of an investor compensation fund. Under this proposal, when a share of stock is sold in the secondary market, a fee, payable by the selling shareholder, will be placed into a fund for fraud victim restitution. The size of the fee will vary by the fraud risk rating assigned to the firm whose stock is sold and, naturally, will affect that stock’s trading price. Therefore, firms will have incentives to institute corporate governance practices that minimize the likelihood of fraud

Slavery and jouissance: analysing complaints of suffering in UK and Australian nurses’ talk about their work

Nursing has a gendered and religious history, where ideas of duty and servitude are present and shape its professional identity. The profession also promotes idealised notions of relationships with patients and of professional autonomy both of which are, in practice, highly constrained or even impossible. This paper draws on psychoanalytic concepts in order to reconsider nursing’s professional identity. It does this by presenting an analysis of data from two focus group studies involving nurses in England and Australia held between 2010 and 2012. The studies gave rise to data where extremely negative talk about nursing work seemed to produce, or to be expressed with, a high degree of energy, and a particular kind of enjoyment. In our analysis we focus on the nurses’ apparent enjoyment derived from their expression of a position of powerlessness in which they describe themselves as ‘slaves’ or ‘martyrs’ in the healthcare system. We interpret this as jouissance and suggest that the positions of slave or martyr provide a possible response to what we argue is the impossibility of the nurse’s role. We argue that a remnant of a quasi-religious ethic within the profession makes it acceptable for nurses to talk about self-sacrifice and powerlessness as part of their working subjectivity. We further argue that this analysis offers a new consideration of the issue of power and professional identity in nursing that goes beyond seeing nurses as simply overpowered by, or engaged in a gendered power struggle with other professional groups. We suggest that powerlessness and victimhood hold particular attractions and advantages for nurses and are positions that are more available to nurses than to other occupational groups. This research shows how psychoanalytic theory can help produce new insights into the problems and complexity of nursing and extend existing study of the professions

Understanding the impact of eating disorders: using the reflecting team as a learning strategy for students

In this paper we discuss how the application of a reflecting team from systemic family therapy practice was used as a learning strategy for a post graduate program for healthcare students. The program was designed to increase the students’ skills, knowledge and awareness of the needs of people with eating disorders, and their families. There were some benefits to this learning strategy. Students reported that the use of a reflecting team enabled them to gain a deep understanding of the emotional impact of eating disorders on individuals and their carers. However, as this method of learning was new to the students, they needed some initial instruction on the approach. During the program of study, it became evident that the healthcare professionals were deeply affected by the experiences of people with eating disorders. This would suggest that possibly it was the presence of the sufferers themselves as part of the reflecting team that provided the pivotal learning opportunity rather than the reflecting team per se

The Spitzer c2d Survey of Nearby Dense Cores: III: Low Mass Star Formation in a Small Group, L1251B

We present a comprehensive study of a low-mass star-forming region,L1251B, at wavelengths from the near-infrared to the millimeter. L1251B, where only one protostar, IRAS 22376+7455, was known previously, is confirmed to be a small group of protostars based on observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The most luminous source of L1251B is located 5" north of the IRAS position. A near-infrared bipolar nebula, which is not associated with the brightest object and is located at the southeast corner of L1251B, has been detected in the IRAC bands. OVRO and SMA interferometric observations indicate that the brightest source and the bipolar nebula source in the IRAC bands are deeply embedded disk sources.Submillimeter continuum observations with single-dish telescopes and the SMA interferometric observations suggest two possible prestellar objects with very high column densities. Outside of the small group, many young stellar object candidates have been detected over a larger region of 12' x 12'. Extended emission to the east of L1251B has been detected at 850 micron; this "east core" may be a site for future star formation since no point source has been detected with IRAC or MIPS. This region is therefore a possible example of low-mass cluster formation, where a small group of pre- and protostellar objects (L1251B) is currently forming, alongside a large starless core (the east core).Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, for the full resolution paper, visit "http://peggysue.as.utexas.edu/SIRTF/PAPERS/pap27.pub.pdf

Management by Trajectory: Trajectory Management Study Report

In order to realize the full potential of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), improved management along planned trajectories between air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and system users (e.g., pilots and airline dispatchers) is needed. Future automation improvements and increased data communications between aircraft and ground automation would make the concept of Management by Trajectory (MBT) possible